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Far up on a mountainside we spotted some blue sheep, also known as bharal. Not to be confused with the red sheep of Voltaire’s Candide. This is the female.

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And this is the male.

Blue sheep are the main food source of snow leopards so this was an indication there may be snow leopards around.

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An hour later, we are in a side valley and you can see a bit of the floor of the main valley in the distance. I think the blue sheep were on the other side of the main valley.

We are 3,500 to 4,000 metres high. Walking uphill is very slow in these conditions. If you try to go at all quickly you soon have to stop and recover. It is better to walk very slowly and keep going.

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You can also see the track across the scree slope to the ridge here on the far left of the previous image. A bit later, when a few more people were there, Jools and I set off across the scree slope to join them. Half way across they waved us back. There was just a narrow ledge and no room for any more.

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Back at the resting point, there was the remains of an old structure, too small for a house. I decided it looked easier to get down to the valley by going on further rather than going back the way we came. I didn’t find anything of particular interest further on in that valley though.

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Crossing the ice in the frozen river of the main valley is a delicate task, especially the first couple of times.

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Remarkable details of a flag on a stupa.

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More blue sheep, from a valley on the other side of the main valley. Their coats look a bit more blue here so you can see how they get their name.

I had a few equipment problems. In particular, my long zoom lens fell three feet to the ground off my monopod at one point. It seemed to be working but images from the longer end of the zoom range are not sharp (including the shots of the blue sheep in this post). It is now in for repair.

I also had problems with both cameras (Fuji X-T2s) due to the cold weather. One showed some strange looking images in the viewfinder (eg monochrome plus blue) but this did not affect the RAW files so the camera was still usable and it returned to normal when I reset it when I got home. The other one got stuck on particular shutter speeds from 1/320 to 1/800 sec which was a bit more inconvenient. Fuji fixed that under warranty when I got home.

I was not the only one with equipment problems in the extreme conditions. One photographer’s Nikon D850 stopped working entirely.

Some of the prayer flags were frozen into the ice below the waterfall.

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The river we were walking along was also mainly frozen.

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The view from a rise at the side valley leading to Rumbak. We are looking down the main valley. There’s another village some distance off in the end valley to the right but we didn’t visit there.

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Tea is on the way. We received wonderful service from our support team, mainly villagers from Rumbak.

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Here is Rumbak in the distance, a man and a horse walking in. There are more houses than this but they are spread out and not all visible at the same time from the trail in. There is also a small stupa on the hill behind the houses (click on the image to see this better). There are Buddhist monuments on many small peaks.

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On the stupas in front of these houses are many carved stones. Traditionally during the long dark hours of winter, women weave cloth and make clothes while men carve stones.

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Some of these houses, such as this one, offer home stays (but we were camping).

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A stupa and some ruins at the back of the village. Note the zigzag walking trail on the mountain behind the stupa.
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Ruins of an old house, perched on the edge of a cliff that appears to have eroded away, from a time when houses were further up the valley.

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People have lived in Rumbak for a long time.

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Looking to the end of the valley.

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Looking down on the village as we walk back from the stupa shown above.

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We were offered tea in the village’s ceremonial hall. The main purpose of this room is for events that all the village gathers for such as marriages and births. This is the kitchen part of the room, with a stove and many brass pots, different ones for specific social events.

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A last view of the mountains at the end of the valley, past the stupa we visited.

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Looking up-river on the trail back to camp. The stupa is decorated with a flag and the skulls of blue sheep or bharal.

We are in the cars and heading towards Hemis National Park, where we are to camp for eight days.

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On the way we pass a bridge festooned with prayer flags and banners.

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We stop at a cairn near the side of the road festooned with prayer flags and white silk.

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Our drivers are conducting a ceremony to bless our trip with good fortune.

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Down below in the Indus River, a bank of ice has formed around a gravel bar.

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Even before getting into the National Park, the view is wild and barren.

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… and the mountains are majestic.

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I stopped to take a picture of this footbridge which I surmise has seen better days…

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… when some of the ponies came wandering down the road.

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These are to take our bags from the cars to our camp.

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It was not a long walk to the camp and here is the yak Tashi hanging around near the kitchen.

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All the catering and organising is done by villagers from the nearby village Rumbak. We are beside a small river and here a hole has been made in the ice for our water supply.

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A dramatic rock headland towers over the camp.

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After lunch, we head off to look for snow leopards and encountered some of the ponies along the way.

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We climb up to a ridge and some of our guides search for snow leopards in the mountain sides with spotting scopes. This is a view from there showing a large stone pen in the valley below.

We didn’t see any snow leopards though earlier we passed a spot where a snow leopard had rubbed against a rock, marked the spot and left an indistinct paw print. I didn’t think to take an image though it would have been fairly prosaic.

This is the journey to Alchi and Liker Monasteries (preceding posts) and back to Leh.

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This is Spituk Monastery (or Spituk Gompa), just on the outside of Leh.

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We stopped for a while at a vantage point. This is the mighty Indus River. Ice surrounds its banks and clumps of ice float downstream.

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I didn’t notice it at the time, but at far right in the river is a stone pylon and flattened metal structures. There may be the remains of another pylon to its left. This appears to be the remains of a bridge. If so, the river at some time must have wiped away not merely the bridge but the approaches to it on the far side of the river. Perhaps there can be radical floods associated with the spring melt (It’s a rain shadow area).

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At some time someone, perhaps a truck, probably on an icy road, has gone straight through the barrier and down the cliff.

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Looking at the river below, against the sun. It’s a long way down.

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You may notice what seems to be a walking trail to the left of the ice-lined river. This is in fact a canal, bypassing the river. A nearby tributary runs through a copper bed and poisons the water for cattle.

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Looking up, the mountains merge into blue abstract shapes.

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A short distance later, we stopped above the confluence of the Indus and Zanskar Rivers. This is a bridge over the Indus leading to the Zanskar Valley. In fact it’s two bridges. A larger new one is being built on top of the old one.

Zanskar was a relatively independent Buddhist kingdom between the 10th and 15th centuries and the area remains Buddhist.

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Prayer flags over the Indus.

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This is the confluence of the rivers. Indus below and the Zanskar joining it from above.

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Again, from further back.

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Round a corner and the road heads towards the village of Nimmu below.

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Stupas and a prayer wheel on the edge of Nimmu.

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A view of the countryside, taken from the car.

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Roadside workers, an image snatched from the car.

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Following the lead car, nearing Alchi Monastery.

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On our way back now, this is the picturesque Buddhist Monastery above Nimmu Village.

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Down below our vantage point, a cow seems to want to come inside.

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Moving the goalposts.

Further on, many locals, probably families from a military base, are playing ice hockey on a frozen river.

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I think it’s the puck on the end of the stick of the woman at the left.

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Dramatic views of the mountain landscapes through the car window, as we drive on.

We are on the road between Alchi and Likir Monasteries. Stupas are not uncommon beside the road.

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This double one appears to be fairly new (or else has been restored).

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Can you see the building? What is it doing way up there and seemingly built on a scree slope? There’s a road down below it but a lot further down and a zigzag foot trail down to the road. It appears to be a kind of a duplex with two doors and two windows (click if you need a larger view). The roof appears to be damaged so it appears to be derelict. I think we can eliminate a farmhouse or a tourist hotel. Perhaps a meditation hideout?

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More stupas beside the road.

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And we’re approaching it…

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Likir Monastery.

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Some of the local boys in front of the general store/ sweets shop.

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The giant Buddha from below.

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Likir is a very old monastery, dating to the time of King Lhachen Gyalpo (c. 1050-1080). It has 120 monks and also administers Alchi Monastery, which we had just visited.

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Items and views walking around the monastery.

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A stupa with a view.

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Terraced agricultural land below the monastery, waiting for the Spring melt.

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I think this is one of the meeting halls or Dukhangs, containing ancient paintings and sculptures but not allowing cameras.

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We were invited to join the villagers in prayer. This is an old woman leaving as we arrive.

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… and a young boy standing beside the door.

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Inside with the villagers at prayer.

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I attracted a certain amount of attention with my long white beard. Not perhaps what they expect from a Westerner.

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Outside, many of the villagers were sitting in the afternoon sun (but it’s still below 0ºC).

Alchi Monastery is on a rugged steep site and the Indus passes by below.

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Looking back along a whole line of prayer wheels on the way in to the monastery.

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Alchi Monastery is one of the oldest monasteries in Ladakh, said to be built by Guru Rinchen Zangpo between 958 and 1055. This building is the Sumtseg, built in the early 13th century. It contains three giant Bodhisattvas, around four metres tall, along with other figures and remarkable ancient paintings.

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Unfortunately photography is not allowed in the Sumtseg but it is allowed in these stupas which date to the late 13th century. There are various ancient paintings that you can see as you look up at niches inside them.

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Residence? Meeting hall? Don’t know.

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More stupas.

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This tree is said to be the staff of founder Guru Rinchen Zangpo. The story goes that he planted his walking stick in the ground here. When he came back, it had sprouted so he determined that this was a suitable site for a monastery. This would imply the tree is around 1,000 years old.